Summary:
Aylmer is a scientist who is very into his work. Aylmer is starting to become very annoyed by the birthmark on his wife’s face. He can’t look at her without staring at the mark. She is begins to notice him staring. She says that everyone else thinks the mark is beautiful but he now believes she is no longer perfect. She decides to give in and tells him no matter the risk that she wants him to remove the mark if possible. She doubts his abilities as a scientist to remove the mark and he becomes arrogant and says the operation is easy. The birthmark looked like a little hand on her cheek and it really becomes noticeable when she turns pale, and when she becomes angry or joyous her face becomes florid and the handprint blends in. Georgiana was skeptical about the potion that he was going to use on her mark. Then, Aylmer presented to her his other potions that he has created such as, the one that made the sick, dying plant grow greatly. She notices that his experiments are almost to his level of perfection but never quite perfect. Georgiana is down in his lab and she is sifting through his books and notes and discovers information that she didn’t want to uncover. When he is finished the procedure he is sitting intently by her side and records all of her movements and abnormalities if any were to occur. When she awakes from her sleep she tells him that she is dying. The mark on her face was connected to her soul and since the mark had disappeared from the result of his potion, her soul was slowly leaving as the mark was disappearing. Once the mark was gone so was Georgia's life.
Reflection: After i read the story of "The Birthmark" it made me think back to times when little imperfections have annoyed me. They are not to the same scale as in the book but the connection is still there. I remember when I was younger my little brother had a mole on his face. It bothered me so much and i knew pointing it out was a easy way to anger him. Looking back i can see it really would lower his self confidence and lead him to wanting it to be removed. This is like Aylmer with his wife because he does not like the mark and makes her feel uncomfortable with it and this cause her to wanting to have it removed. Overall I believe that this story has connections to everyone. Everyone can look back in their life and bring up sometime where someone made them feel uncomfortable or they made someone feel unsatisfied with themselves.
Excerts: Selfishness is a theme in this passage. We can see this throughout the whole book. To start Aylmer does not care what his wife thinks about the mark, he just knows he wants it removed off her face. Even though others might think it is a sign of beauty he wants it gone. Seeing this we can see that all he cares about is his own personal views.
Obsession is also a theme in this book and it is prevalent when Aylmer attempts countless times to convince Georgiana to get her birthmark removed. In the book Aylmer says to Georgiana "...upon another arm perhaps it might, but ... you came so hideous from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection." Aylmer is so deeply obsessed with having his wife perfect that he doesn’t even attempt to think of her feelings on the birthmark which are the complete opposite of Aylmer.
Love is another theme in this work. This aspect is shown by Georgiana when she finally submits to her husbands constant nagging of removing her birthmark on her cheek. She doesn’t want to have her mark removed because she has lived with it and it has become a part of her every day life. But, her husband wants her to have it removed because he doesn’t like it. She then agrees to have it removed and sacrifices out of love. She loves him so much that she is willing to make sacrifices.
Aylmer is a scientist who is very into his work. Aylmer is starting to become very annoyed by the birthmark on his wife’s face. He can’t look at her without staring at the mark. She is begins to notice him staring. She says that everyone else thinks the mark is beautiful but he now believes she is no longer perfect. She decides to give in and tells him no matter the risk that she wants him to remove the mark if possible. She doubts his abilities as a scientist to remove the mark and he becomes arrogant and says the operation is easy. The birthmark looked like a little hand on her cheek and it really becomes noticeable when she turns pale, and when she becomes angry or joyous her face becomes florid and the handprint blends in. Georgiana was skeptical about the potion that he was going to use on her mark. Then, Aylmer presented to her his other potions that he has created such as, the one that made the sick, dying plant grow greatly. She notices that his experiments are almost to his level of perfection but never quite perfect. Georgiana is down in his lab and she is sifting through his books and notes and discovers information that she didn’t want to uncover. When he is finished the procedure he is sitting intently by her side and records all of her movements and abnormalities if any were to occur. When she awakes from her sleep she tells him that she is dying. The mark on her face was connected to her soul and since the mark had disappeared from the result of his potion, her soul was slowly leaving as the mark was disappearing. Once the mark was gone so was Georgia's life.
Reflection:
After i read the story of "The Birthmark" it made me think back to times when little imperfections have annoyed me. They are not to the same scale as in the book but the connection is still there. I remember when I was younger my little brother had a mole on his face. It bothered me so much and i knew pointing it out was a easy way to anger him. Looking back i can see it really would lower his self confidence and lead him to wanting it to be removed. This is like Aylmer with his wife because he does not like the mark and makes her feel uncomfortable with it and this cause her to wanting to have it removed. Overall I believe that this story has connections to everyone. Everyone can look back in their life and bring up sometime where someone made them feel uncomfortable or they made someone feel unsatisfied with themselves.
Excerts:
Selfishness is a theme in this passage. We can see this throughout the whole book. To start Aylmer does not care what his wife thinks about the mark, he just knows he wants it removed off her face. Even though others might think it is a sign of beauty he wants it gone. Seeing this we can see that all he cares about is his own personal views.
Obsession is also a theme in this book and it is prevalent when Aylmer attempts countless times to convince Georgiana to get her birthmark removed. In the book Aylmer says to Georgiana "...upon another arm perhaps it might, but ... you came so hideous from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection." Aylmer is so deeply obsessed with having his wife perfect that he doesn’t even attempt to think of her feelings on the birthmark which are the complete opposite of Aylmer.
Love is another theme in this work. This aspect is shown by Georgiana when she finally submits to her husbands constant nagging of removing her birthmark on her cheek. She doesn’t want to have her mark removed because she has lived with it and it has become a part of her every day life. But, her husband wants her to have it removed because he doesn’t like it. She then agrees to have it removed and sacrifices out of love. She loves him so much that she is willing to make sacrifices.